Nicaraguan general election, 1963

A general elections were held in Nicaragua to elect a president and parliament on 3 February 1963.

“Evidence of massive impending fraud caused the Traditional Conservative Party to abandon its loyalist stance of the previous decade and to boycott the 1963 elections, thereby raising the party’s credibility among the public at large”. ^[1]

“The elections were held in an atmosphere of overwhelming apathy, and the official returns, which in some areas showed more voters than the total adult population, gave Schick a victory margin of better than ten to one”. ^[2] “Both the OAS and the U.S. embassy served as observers, although embassy officials later admitted that the accuracy of the preliminary and final vote count ‘will never be known”. ^[3]

Presidential election results^[4]

Candidate	Party/Alliance	Votes	%
René Schick Gutiérrez	Liberal Nationalist Party (PLN)	408,131	90.48%
Diego Manuel Chamorro Bolaños	Conservative Party (PC)	42,933	09.52%
Total valid votes		451,064	100%
Spoilt and invalid votes		??	??
Total votes/Turnout		??	??
Registered voters		570,000	–
Population		1,535,588	–

Legislative election ^[5]

Parties and alliances	Votes	%	Seats/ Senate	Seats/ Chamber of Deputies
Liberal Nationalist Party (PLN)	408,131	90.48%	12	28
Conservative Party (PC)	42,933	09.52%	04+3*	14
Total valid votes	540,714	100%	16+3*	42
Spoilt and invalid votes	??	??	–	–
Total votes/Turnout	??	??	–	–
Registered voters	??	–	–	–
Population	1,700,000	–	–	–

(*) Plus the defeated Presidential candidate in 1963 (Conservative) and two life-time Senators (Conservatives) by virtue of their being ex-Presidents of the Republic.

References

1. ^ Booth, John A. The end and the beginning: the Nicaraguan revolution. Boulder: Westview Press. Second edition, revised and updated. 1985. Pp. 99.
2. ^ Millett, Richard. Guardians of the dynasty: a history of the U.S. created Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua and the Somoza Family. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. 1977. Pp. 226.
3. ^ Gambone, Michael D. Capturing the revolution: the United States, Central America, and Nicaragua, 1961-1972. Westport: Praeger. 2001. Pp. 37.
4. ^ Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 1. [Oxford] [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. Pp.501.
5. ^ Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 1. [Oxford] [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. Pp.496.

Bibliography

• Booth, John A. The end and the beginning: the Nicaraguan revolution. Boulder: Westview Press. Second edition, revised and updated. 1985.
• Elections in the Americas A Data Handbook Volume 1. North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Edited by Dieter Nohlen. 2005.
• Gambone, Michael D. Capturing the revolution: the United States, Central America, and Nicaragua, 1961-1972. Westport: Praeger. 2001.
• Leonard, Thomas M. “The quest for Central American democracy since 1945.” Assessing democracy in Latin America. 1998. Boulder: Westview Press.
• Millett, Richard. Guardians of the dynasty: a history of the U.S. created Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua and the Somoza Family. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. 1977.
• Political handbook of the world 1968. New York, 1969.
• Walker, Thomas W. The Christian Democratic movement in Nicaragua. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 1970.